Combining the classically cute with the technologically terrifying, Battle Beasts brought animal and mineral together in a way that could render one into a vegetable. As if playing with them wasn’t fun enough, just looking at the amazingly unique and endlessly creative designs was enough to occupy a kid for hours. Continue reading...

Strategically place your fleet out of harms way and pray that your number (and letter) doesn’t come up. In the seas of war, torpedoes are flying and coordinates barked at an ever-increasing pace. It’s going to take a little logic and a lot of luck to win this battle, all fought within the confines of dueling plastic L-shaped game boards. This is Milton Bradley's Battleship, “the classic naval combat game!” Continue reading...

Assuming you didn't have access to cockfights and bare-knuckle boxing bouts as a kid, the next best thing to getting your gladiatorial fix was Battle Tops. Once you released your spinning top into the plastic arena, you could sit back and watch the carnage erupt as you cheered on your fearless plastic cohort and hoped that, once the dust cleared, it emerged the last one standing, er, spinning. Continue reading...

Perhaps the old saying, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” is best demonstrated by the frenzy that erupted around a little group of critters known simply as Beanie Babies, some of the most coveted and collectible little creatures to hit store shelves since the Great Cabbage Patch Epidemic. Continue reading...

As the Vietnam War raged on in the early 70's, the public had tired of their usual fondness for war-related toys. Heck, even G.I. Joe took on more of a Steve Irwin persona, choosing a life of rugged adventure over another tour of duty. But he was no match in the brawn department to the one and only Big Jim. This was a man's man - a sports hero, martial arts master and adventurer, all wrapped up in one beefy package. Continue reading...

In the ever-expanding universe of toys, November of 1979 witnessed a significant advancement in the world of domestic science fiction with the entrance of Big Trak, a toy that appealed to every aspect of childhood imagination. Added to the idea of a tank were lights, noise, and a relatively new feature in the technologically burgeoning toy industry -the ability to program. Continue reading...

In the world of toys, there is the neat, the cool, the trendy, and the classic. But every once in a while, sometimes only once in a generation, comes a toy that hits all these points and also serves to help define the decade. The Big Wheel is one such toy, so iconic that they are still being pedaled down neighborhood streets four decades after their debut. Continue reading...

Who says a girl can’t have a little adventure with her own action figure? If Steve Austin could traipse around town showing off his nifty cyber-eye and superhuman strength, certainly a female doll could show off her mechanically-enhanced espionage abilities as well. Introducing Jaimie Summers, The Bionic Woman - a gal that had some very special talents all her own. Continue reading...